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139

For the Son of God took the man whom He put on from the Church and gave back to her again for holy communion the flesh for participation. From the same, on "a king bound in the tresses. How have you become beautiful, and how have you been established?" 10.58 For running by from heaven to earth, descending into the regions of Hades and to the depth below Hades, from there He will draw up the one who had died. And after other things For He was truly made beautiful and established, not the power of the divinity—for it admits no addition, no diminution—but the flesh which He assumed and the man whom He put on. This one was made beautiful, being conformed to the beauty of the divinity, and was established in the kingdom of the heavens at the right hand of God. From the same, on the Hexaemeron, where he discusses the man blind from birth 10.59 For even if you saw him as a man, yet you ought to have perceived the God in the man from the works themselves. 10.60 Consider also this father preserving one aim with us concerning the figure and the dogma; and concerning the figure, calling the kingdom of the heavens God's "storeroom"—for a storeroom is the inner and more secure chamber of the house, which he also called the kingdom of heaven—and concerning the dogma, that in the storeroom itself, that is, in the kingdom of the heavens, was seated and established the man whom God put on and drew up from death and deemed worthy of the honor at the right hand. 10.61 How then do the willfully contentious cry out that we have walked some strange road known to no one? Let them cease from their willfully malicious madness, and not slander us. "For it is God who justifies, who is he that condemns?" For God first bears witness to our teachings, then prophets and apostles and evangelists and the many-named choir of the fathers, of which fathers you also say you accept some, and furthermore even ancient writers from outside have agreed with our teachings in some things. 10.62 But that we may not prolong the discourse further, we have deemed it sufficient to set forth only the proposed testimonies for the sake of the contentious alone, those who dare to slander our teachings, or rather, the truth itself, wishing to make their contentiousness manifest to all. So that they may have from their own side the refutation of their untimely madness, and that our writing may not be attested only by these ancient ones, I shall also set forth the testimony of a certain new schismatic father of theirs, who is still living now and resides in Constantinople—doing this out of abundance—testifying, whether from ignorance or compelled by the truth itself, to our writing. Of Theodosius, bishop of Alexandria, on the fortieth day of the Lord's ascension 10.63 Today human nature is carried up as baggage to heaven, today heaven is opened and a man enters. What will our opponents say to this? How has he not testified to our teachings both in the figure and in the dogma? O the strength of the truth, drawing even unwilling enemies to itself. From the same, in another exegesis 10.64 It is not a great thing, if God defeated the devil. O the wonder. And here the truth demonstrates their untimely contentiousness. For if he says it is not a great thing for God to wrestle with the devil and conquer—for even to say this is mad, for not only the devil, but also all of creation is subject to God and will be counted as nothing—how is it not manifest that he means it was a man who wrestled with the devil and conquered? For this is indeed a great thing, which he also said above entered as a victor into heaven. And that he preserves this aim, the same one again cries out: "For it was necessary, it was necessary for this nature that had grown old to be crowned with a victor's wreath", as if to say, this nature which was defeated by the devil in paradise, that is, man, whom he also often and through many expositions explained became superior by the resurrection, and he declared with boldness that this one was led up into heaven. From the same, in the great church, when the Gospel was read, the part "Father, if it be possible, let it pass" 10.65 The passions of this flesh and the marks of the passion, agony and sweat, grief

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Ἔλαβε γὰρ ὁ μὲν Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃν ἐνεδύσατο ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ ἀνταπέδωκεν αὐτῇ πάλιν εἰς κοινωνίαν αὐτῆς ἁγίαν τὴν σάρκα εἰς μετάληψιν. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ "βασιλεὺς δεδεμένος ἐν παραδρομαῖς. Τί ὡραιώθης καὶ τί ἱδρύνθης;" 10.58 Παρατρέχων γὰρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς, εἰς τὰ καθ' ᾅδου καὶ κατώτερον ᾅδου βυθὸν κατελθών, ἐκεῖθεν ἀνασπάσει τὸν τεθνεῶτα. Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα Ὡραιώθη γὰρ ὄντως καὶ ἱδρύνθη, οὐχ ἡ τῆς θεότητος δύναμιςοὐ γὰρ προσθήκην ἐπιδέχεται, οὐ μείωσιν, ἀλλ' ἡ σὰρξ ἣν ἀνείληφε καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὃν ἐφόρεσεν. Οὗτος ὡραιώθη τῇ τῆς θεότητος ὡραιότητι συμμορφωθείς, καὶ ἱδρύνθη ἐν τῇ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείᾳ ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν Ἑξαήμερον, ἔνθα διαλαμβάνει περὶ τοῦ ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλοῦ 10.59 Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν ἔβλεπες, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ Θεὸν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων νοῆσαι ὤφειλες. 10.60 Κατανόει καὶ τοῦτον τὸν πατέρα σκοπὸν ἕνα μεθ' ἡμῶν περὶ τοῦ σχήματος καὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἀποσῴζοντα, καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ σχήματος, "ταμιεῖον" Θεοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν καλέσανταταμιεῖον δέ ἐστι τὸ ἐσώτερον καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον τοῦ οἴκου χώρημα, ὃ καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν εἶπε, περὶ δὲ τοῦ δόγματος, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ταμιείῳ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καθεσθέντα καὶ ἱδρυνθέντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ὁ Θεὸς ἐφόρεσε καὶ τοῦ θανάτου ἀνέσπασε καὶ τῆς ἐν δεξιᾷ τιμῆς ἠξίωσε. 10.61 Πῶς οὖν οἱ ἐθελοφίλεχθροι βοῶσιν ὡς ξένην τινὰ ὁδὸν καὶ μηδενὶ ἐγνωσμένην ἐβαδίσαμεν; Παυσάσθωσαν τῆς ἐθελοκάκου μανίας, καὶ μὴ συκοφαντείτωσαν ἡμᾶς. "Θεὸς γὰρ ὁ δικαιῶν, τίς ὁ κατακρίνων;" Ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ πρῶτος τοῖς ἡμετέροις μαρτυρεῖ, ἔπειτα προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ εὐαγγελισταὶ καὶ τῶν πατέρων πολυώνυμος χόρος, ἐξ ὧν πατέρων καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐνίους φατὲ δέχεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ παλαιοὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν συγγραφεῖς τοῖς ἡμετέροις εἰς ἔνια συνεφώνησαν. 10.62 Ἵνα δὲ μὴ τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ πλεῖον μηκύνωμεν, ἀρκετὸν ἡγησάμεθα τὰς προτεθείσας μόνον μαρτυρίας θεῖναι τῶν φιλο νείκων καὶ μόνον ἕνεκα, τῶν τολμώντων διαβάλλειν τὰ ἡμέτερα, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἔκδηλον πᾶσι βουλόμενοι καταστῆσαι τὴν τούτων φιλονεικίαν. Ἵν' οἴκοθεν ἔχωσι τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς ἀκαίρου μανίας, ἵνα δὲ μὴ μόνον ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν παλαιῶν μεμαρτυρημένη ᾖ ἡ ἡμετέρα συγγραφή, θήσω καί τινος νέου ἀποσχίστου αὐτῶν πατρὸς ἔτι καὶ νῦν ζῶντος καὶ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει διάγοντοςἐκ περιουσίας καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶνμαρτυρίαν μαρτυροῦντος, εἴτε ἐξ ἀγνοίας εἴτε ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας ἀναγκαζομένου, τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ συγγραφῇ. Θεοδοσίου, Ἀλεξανδρείας ἐπισκόπου, εἰς τὴν τεσσαρακοστὴν τῆς ἀναλήψεως τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμέραν 10.63 Σήμερον ἡ ἀνθρώπινος φύσις σκευαγωγεῖται εἰς οὐρανόν, σήμερον οὐρανὸς ἀνοίγεται καὶ ἄνθρωπος εἰσέρχεται. Τί πρὸς ταῦτα ἐροῦσιν οἱ ἐναντίοι; Πῶς οὐ μεμαρτύρηκε τοῖς ἡμετέροις καὶ ἐν τῷ σχήματι καὶ ἐν τῷ δόγματι; Βαβαὶ ἰσχὺς τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἄκοντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐπισπῶσα. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ἐξηγήσει 10.64 Οὐ μέγα, εἰ Θεὸς διάβολον ἥττησεν. Ὢ τοῦ θαύματος. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσιν ἡ ἀλήθεια τὴν τούτων ἄκαιρον φιλονεικίαν. Εἰ γὰρ οὐ μέγα λέγει Θεὸν μετὰ διαβόλου παλαίοντα καὶ νικῶντατοῦτο γὰρ καὶ λέγειν μανικὸν ὑπάρχει, Θεῷ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ὁ διάβολος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ὑποτέτακται καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθήσεται, πῶς οὐκ εὔδηλον τυγχάνει ὅτι ἄνθρωπον βούλεται μετὰ τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν παλαίσαντα καὶ νικήσαντα; Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ μέγα ὑπάρχει, ὃν καὶ ἀνωτέρω εἶπεν εἰσελθόντα ὡς νικητὴν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Ὅτι δὲ τοῦτον τὸν σκοπὸν ἀποσῴζει, πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς βοᾷ· "Ἔδει γάρ, ἔδει τὴν καταπαλαιωθεῖσαν φύσιν ταύτην ἀναδήσασθαι στέφανον", ὡσανεὶ αὕτη ἡ φύσις ἡ ἡττηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, φησίν, ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, τουτέστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὃν καὶ ἐξ ἀναστάσεως κρείττονα γενόμενον πολλάκις καὶ διὰ πολλῶν ἐξηγήσατο, καὶ τοῦτον εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀναχθέντα μετὰ παρρησίας ἐξεῖπε. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν, τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἀναγνωσθέντος τὸ "Πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν, παρελθέτω" 10.65 Σαρκὸς τὰ πάθη ταύτης καὶ τοῦ πάθους γνωρίσματα, ἀγωνία καὶ ἱδρώς, λύπη